Dr. Lam Akol met IO over peace implementation

SPLM-IO and SPLM-DC meet in Juba over peace implementation

JUBA, The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement for Democratic Change (SPLM-DC) held a joint meeting Tuesday with the SPLM-IO Advance Team in Juba and discussed matters concerning the implementation of the peace agreement signed last August and the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan.

SPLM-DC is a non-armed opposition group with several members in parliament while SPLM-IO is the main armed opposition in South Sudan.

Taban Deng, head of the SPLM-IO delegation, said in a press conference held after the meeting that they face a number of challenges in implementation of the signed peace accord. He called upon government to facilitate the movement of their delegates to various states in order to disseminate the peace both in government-controlled and SPLM-IO controlled areas.

Taban further claimed that government is making impossible demands which hinder the process of peace implementation as well as the work of the committee to amend the interim constitution.

He also stressed, “The SPLM-IO strongly object to the question of creation of 28 states instead of the previous number as indicated in the constitution during the transitional period.”

Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, head of SPLM-DC, said that the arrival of the SPLM-IO opposition delegation to Juba is an important step in the implementation of the peace deal, despite many of the challenges facing the peace agreement.

He also objected to the creation of 28 new districts in place of the 10 constitutionally establishd states: “The current constitutional violations are obstacles to implementation of the peace agreement.”